I wanted to plug a new Internet forum/website that launched today. The two creators of the site were put in contact with me a couple weeks ago though a friend who knows them via a message board (ahhh, the power of the Internet). I was able to provide them with some advice on design, messaging and strategy that I hope was helpful, and I think the end product has turned out very nicely.
The site, called The Obama Generation, creates a space for people of all generations to have a discussion about how Barack Obama has touched them or affected their lives and/or political views over the course of the past several years. The site is fairly straightforward: submit your story as it pertains to Obama and see the conversation flourish. I think it is best summed up as part of an email exchange with one of the sites creators:
“The concept is really simple – people are just asked to write why the Obama campaign has made them care. Ideally this will produce some great discussion between and among ‘generations’.”
And I think that’s exactly what this has the potential to do; create a lively discussion between people of all ages about why what is arguably the largest political movement in the last 40 years has come to be. This is precisely what today’s Internet is best at, bringing together strangers to have a discussion/debate/conversation based on a common interest.
Now, clearly this site’s success will depend on whether or not the people actually come to the website and take part in the conversation by submitting their own stories and commenting on other’s. I expressed this to the two founders by stressing how important their outreach efforts are to making the site work. Whether or not this site takes off and succeeds ultimately depends on this, which makes the progress of this site something I will definitely be watching over the course of the next several weeks.
